Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals 26-Year-Old Hurler Set For MLB Debut; Ex-Marlins Reliever Demoted

The St. Louis youngster is ready for the show
Nate Hagerty|
Apr 14, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Roddery Munoz (35) pitches against the Houston Astros during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Apr 14, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Roddery Munoz (35) pitches against the Houston Astros during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals made several decisions ahead of Wednesday's series finale against the American League West foe Houston Astros.

For instance, left-handed pitcher Steven Matz will make his first start of 2025 after spending the beginning of the season tossing out of the Cardinals' bullpen.

Moving Matz out of the bullpen wasn't the only pitching move St. Louis made ahead of Wednesday afternoon's 12:15 PM Central Standard Time first pitch against Houston.

"Right-handed pitcher Matt Svanson has been recalled from Memphis (AAA)," the organization announced Wednesday morning. "He will wear no. 49, and his first appearance will be his Major League Baseball debut. In a corresponding move, RHP Roddery Muñoz has been optioned to Memphis."

Svanson has logged a 19-10 record with a 2.98 ERA, 233-to-74 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .241 batting average against and a 1.24 WHIP throughout his five-year minor league career, during which he has performed out of the Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays farm systems.

The 26-year-old has sacrificed just one earned run on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 5 2/3 innings pitched for Triple-A Memphis this year.

Muñoz, recently promoted to the big leagues, sacrificed three earned runs on two hits including one home run, four strikeouts and one walk in 2 2/3 innings pitched for the Cardinals after being called up to St. Louis.

Although Muñoz -- a former Miami Marlins reliever -- didn't perform horribly, perhaps the Cardinals are testing out their youth minor league pitchers in the big leagues to give short waves of experience before transitioning them full-time to the show.

Given that Svanson hasn't logged much time pitching for Triple-A Memphis this season, it'll be interesting to see how he performs in his MLB Debut against Houston -- if he's called from the bullpen during the series finale.

More MLB: Astros $260 Million Offseason Trade Target Goes Off In 8-3 Loss To Cardinals

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Nate Hagerty
NATE HAGERTY

Nate Hagerty joined “Inside The Cardinals” as a content creator to spread knowledge about his favorite childhood team. A hometown native of Boston, Hagerty chose at an early age of six years old to follow the St. Louis Cardinals. The miraculous season of 04’ for the Red Sox did not deter Hagerty from rooting against his hometown team, nor did it in 2013 against the Red Birds. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu 

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